Authors: Milly Taiden
TWENTY-NINE
Becca sighed. On one side, she had Charlotte, Gerri, and Razzy trying to make her feel better about Vikter, and in the process making her feel worse. She didn’t want to talk about him or the fact that the man didn’t want to commit to her, even if he thought he was dying. Then there was Laina making stupid remarks every few moments.
“Aunt Laina…” Razzy grinned. “I said you could join us, because I thought you were right. You shouldn’t be punished for what Drayken did, but can you stop trying to defend him every few seconds. We aren’t interested in why he did what he did. He was wrong for abducting Becca. Period.”
Bam! Becca tried not to smile at the polite but firm way Razzy took down her aunt.
“I know, darling, but he is truly a good man,” she said, giving Becca a side glare. “Some men just don’t know how to handle rejection.”
Becca’s anger rose. “Maybe you should have taught him he’s not always getting what he wants,” she snapped. “Instead of looking for excuses for what he did.”
“Really, Razzy,” Laina stood. “You’re not letting some Earth whore speak to me that way, are you?”
Charlotte, Gerri, and Razzy jumped to their feet. Becca was the last to rise.
“Whore?” Becca asked, between gritted teeth. “Where the hell are you getting your information, you old hag?”
“I knew you had no shame,” Laina spat. “I knew you were letting Vikter manhandle you under the table. We all knew.”
“Mother!” Drayken yelled, coming into view from between the trees. “I didn’t ask you to bring her here for this.”
Laina rushed off to Drayken’s side. “I’m sorry, son. I don’t understand what you see in her. Vikter’s already had her. He didn’t want her.”
“Say another thing, you crazy bitch, and I’ll forget you’re almost twice my age and show you what an Earth ass-whoopin’ feels like,” Becca promised. “Go on. Say one more thing.”
“Becca,” Drayken said, taking a step toward her.
Gerri and Charlotte rushed to stand in front of her. Razzy moved ahead of the line to get in front of them.
“I promise I won’t hurt you,” he said.
Razzy turned to look over her shoulder at Becca. “He’s being honest. We’d know if he was lying.”
Becca met Charlotte’s worried gaze and Gerri’s angry one.
“It’s your decision,” Charlotte said.
“But if he tries anything,” Gerri added, “we’re right here.”
Razzy nodded. “I can fly.”
They were trying so hard to make her feel better, but Becca knew it was unnecessary.
She took a few steps forward and stopped some feet away from the others. She waited for him to approach her.
“I’m sorry, Becca,” Drayken said, marching toward her. “I let my frustration and anger control me. What I did was wrong.”
She nodded. “I appreciate the apology, but let’s just forget it.”
He took another step. “I was hoping you’d forgive me. I’d like to start again.”
He offered her a hand. She met his gaze. “I’m not looking for a relationship, Drayken. I’m not the one for you.”
He closed the distance between them. “Just give me a chance. I can be your friend first, if that makes you feel better. We can start slow.”
She shook her head and stepped away. “You don’t understand. I already love someone else.”
Anger brightened in his red eyes. “He doesn’t want you,” he spat. “He’s going to die.” He continued closing in. “I want you. I want you for myself. Fuck Vikter. Once he’s gone you and I can rule together.” He shot a hateful look at Razzy. “She’s no competition. I can take her out and we can own Dragosland.”
“Are you fucking crazy?” She gasped.
He grasped at her arms. “Let me show you what it means to be appreciated. I will make you my queen. Vikter’s going to die and I’ll be there to replace him when he does.”
She didn’t make a struggling move. Not when her anger had gone through the rough. “You think his dying will change my mind? That doesn’t make any difference where emotions are concerned,” she said. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
He started to squeeze at her arms when Vikter showed up. He marched forward, yanked Drayken off Becca and hooked a left, catching Drayken’s jaw and sending him flying in a full turn. He landed on his ass, bleeding from his lip.
“Stay away from her,” Vikter growled. “She’s mine.”
“Vikter, you don’t want her,” Drayken yelled. “Besides, you’re as good as dead.”
Vikter dropped down to the ground, picked Drayken up by his collar and tossed him against a tree. “Next time you touch her, I’ll kill you.”
A collective gasp went through the women.
“Hang on a fucking second here,” Becca retorted. “You can’t claim I’m yours and do your He-Man session, then tell me you don’t want me.”
Laina rushed to Drayken in full screams. She turned to them, her voice filled with fury. “This family is a disgrace. It would be too soon if I never see any of you again.”
Drayken wiped at the blood on his lips and leaned on his mother. They left, the others staring behind them.
Vikter took his sweet time turning around to look at Becca. When he did, she was waiting for his answer.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw Razzy, Charlotte, and Gerri quietly moving back to give them space.
“Rebecca,” he ran his fingers through his hair, “I can’t stay away from you.”
“Nice way to get this going,” she said, raising a brow.
“What do you want to hear? That I love you?” he growled. “Yes, I love you. I don’t know when or how, but I couldn’t stop the emotion from taking control of my heart. I tried to do what was best for you by keeping you away.”
She shoved her hands into her loose-knit pants. “Why was that best for me? I would think if you loved me, being with you is the best thing for me.”
He shook his head. “I do love you. Totally. So fully it hurts my soul to know I’ll leave you alone.” He glanced at his hands and then back to her face. “I’m dying.”
She cleared her throat, emotion clogging her airways, making her eyes well up with moisture. “No, you’re not.”
He nodded. “I couldn’t find my dragon’s mate.” He shrugged. “But none of that matters, because I found the woman I love. I found someone to fill my heart with love.”
THIRTY
She tried to contain the tears, but it was damn hard with the things he was saying. “Vikter…”
“No. Let me speak. I was wrong in saying what I did. If I only have a few days to live, then I want to spend them with you. No one else.” He gave her such a tender look, she didn’t know what to say. “I may die tomorrow, but as long as I have you by my side, it’s okay.”
She started crying at that point. He finally realized he wanted to be with her whether she was his dragon’s mate or not.
“You’re not dying, you hard-headed dragon,” Gerri said, walking up on them.
Becca tried to agree with her, but the knot in her throat was too big. She swallowed what felt like sandpaper.
“Gerri,” Charlotte said. “Maybe we can wait until later to try and make him not give up on life?”
“Yeah,” Razzy whispered. “He’s finally admitting his feelings.”
Gerri rolled her eyes and turned back to Becca and Vikter. “You,” she said pointedly at Vikter, “are not dying.” Then she turned to Becca and grinned. “And you are much too smart for your own good.”
Becca smiled through her tears and nodded. Gerri pushed back Becca’s long, flowy sleeves, so everyone could see the golden dragon tattoo on her arm.
“You found your dragon’s mate, Vikter. She’s right here,” Gerri said.
Becca tried speaking again. “It’s true,” she met Vikter’s shocked gaze. “You’re not dying.”
“I didn’t see that on you when you were at the castle!” Vikter exclaimed, moving forward and taking in her massive dragon mark.
“It took a lot of days to develop, but I have two,” she said, lifting her top to show him the one on her hip.
He slid his fingers over the mark, curling his hand around her hips and hugging her to him.
“I don’t understand,” Charlotte said, her tone more than a little confused. “If she was his mate, why didn’t he instantly recognize her from the beginning? Isn’t that the norm?”
“Yes. Unless you’re dying,” Gerri said. “Vikter’s disconnect with his dragon and their fading link meant the dragon couldn’t communicate with him like most dragons do. So while the dragon knew she was his mate, Vikter didn’t. It wasn’t until the dragon marked her that it strengthen their bond again and gave Vikter his life back.”
“Why,” Becca cleared her throat. “Why didn’t you mark me the first time we…ah…you know?”
“He wouldn’t know.” Gerri grinned. “But I can deduce why. You see, for a marking to happen, the link has to be solid, and both the man and the dragon in full agreement of it taking place. It sounds like the weak link didn’t allow for it the first time.” She smiled. “But your continued time together gave the dragon that extra strength to connect with Vikter and make it happen that last time.”
“Okay, now that we’ve got that figured out, why don’t the three of us go for a stroll,” Charlotte said to Gerri and Razzy.
Gerri nodded. “I knew there had to be a reason for all this nonsense.”
Becca watched them disappear between the trees and glanced up at Vikter. “I couldn’t tell you about it until I knew you wouldn’t reject me because you were dying.”
He nodded. “You’ve saved my life. In more ways than one.”
She curled her arms around his neck and kissed him. She’d missed him so much. The past days had been so empty, and every time she glanced at her mark, a bout of sadness had taken over her heart.
He pulled back, his eyes no longer filled with anger or frustration, or even sadness. There was love in them. So much love.
“If I only had one day to live, I’d still choose to spend it loving you.”
She kissed him again. Harder. Deeper. There would be no dying for her dragon. It was time to live. She pulled back and smiled.
“I love you, you big, grumpy dragon.”
He laughed. “So many nice words coming out of your beautiful mouth.” He caressed her face, hooking his hand around her neck and holding her still. “I love you, Becca. I love your sass, your humor, and most of all, I love your heart.”
She hugged him hard, finally able to be happy with the one man she wanted. “You know just what to say to get a girl to take her panties off, don’t you?”
He chuckled loudly. “I know just the spot where you can get a great view of the sky while I get a taste of you.”
Yeah, he knew just what to say.
EPILOGUE
Gerri stared at the mess her apartment had turned into while she’d been gone. Thank god she had so many people helping take care of her stuff while she’d been in Aurora.
Dammit. She was definitely going to need another assistant. She’d managed to sit for five minutes before her communicator from Aurora buzzed.
Now what? She pressed the button, and Karel, one of her favorite people, popped up in a hologram.
“Karel,” she sighed. “I just sat down. There better be a damn good reason for you to be calling me.”
He nodded. “There’s someone here in urgent need of your services.”
Gerri sighed. It was always urgent. “Wonderful. Who is it now?”
His hologram stared straight at her. “Me.”
THE END
A Letter from Gerri Wilder
Dear readers,
I understand your love for books is what keeps you coming back to PDA and Milly Taiden. If you enjoyed this book, I urge you to please tell your friends, share the links, and help Milly keep telling my adventures in matchmaking. Another way to show your support is to write a review on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be long—just a few words can be a great way to encourage Milly into writing more of my stories.
Do you have a question for me? Want to be matched? Check out Milly’s
Facebook page
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and I will answer questions as Milly allows with her crazy schedule. Who knows, your questions may show up in the next letter from my part of Milly’s book.
Someone emailed Milly to ask if I ever planned on doing a dragon mating, well Scaling Her Dragon was for all you wonderful fans who wanted it. Recently, someone requested I help find a mate for Karel. We shall see…
Until next time. Now, I must search out a new assistant. Again.
-G